Which material to use?

[grouchyturtle]

I'm in the process of building my own spring straps.

I need to make part of the mounting hardware with sheet metal. On each buckle I will have a small sheet on top and a small sheet below the buckle, each with 2 holes in it, all held together by SS screws.

I assume ideally SS would be the best choice, since the springs are SS, as well as the screws that will be holding everything together. Can I just use a hack saw to cut it?

Alternatively I could go with aluminum. Cheaper and easier to work with. I could just use tin snips to cut it. On the other hand, mixing different alloys together could cause the mounting hardware to sieze together.

What would you go with, steel or aluminum?
What alloy?
How thick?

 

[miketsp]

Since the screws are likely to be SS and SS and AL are at opposite ends of the scale in terms of galvanic corrosion, I would say to avoid AL if possible. Try to do everything in SS.
See
http://www.ssina.com/galvanic/

The thickness of the SS really depends on the fixing. If the posts are plastic like Mares Avanti Quattro then you want a reasonable thickness of SS to avoid acting like a knife and cutting the post off.
If the SS plates are going to be screwed to the fins then just thick enough to avoid cutting yourself.

Just a practical tip, if using a hacksaw to cut small pieces of SS plate, buy a blade with more teeth per inch, at least 24 instead of the standard 18. It's safer and easier.

 

[willydiver]

Grunzster,

Check out my thread at http://www.scubaboard.com/t76923-.html . It shows the straps I made a while back similiar to how you are describing your project. Go to the dollar store and buy a cheap SS spatula. If it's around 1/16" thick, you can cut it with a good pair of snips. Hacksaw, file, and a vise will work too.

WD

 

[grouchyturtle]

Thanks!!!

That thread is actually where I got the idea.

Thanks for the tip on materials too. Even if I had to buy a few of them, it would still be cheaper than buying a sheet of SS from McMaster Carr.

Great, 1/16 was what I was thinking. I'd much rather use snips than a saw. Faster and easier!

 

[Padipro]

Check out this link Spring Straps for a few other ideas.

 

[grouchyturtle]

Thanks.

Actually that's one of the links I checked out and got my parts list from.

Got to the dollar store last night after they closed, so I decided to just order the parts from McMaster Carr. $9 for a sheet of 316SS delivered to my door tomorrow. I need the SS for another project to anyway, so I would have spent a few bucks on spatulas anyway.

I'm doing the hockey puck design, with the multiple holes for adjusting the spring, but, mounting them the way willydiver did. May eventually build new block out of delrin, though.

 

[Padipro]

I was looking for the link to the page with that Delrin block last night when I posted the message above, but I must have deleted it. I was going to do my straps that way but ended up buying a set of SP Jets that already had the spring straps installed so I didn't need to make anything. I ordered the block from McMaster-Carr before I bought the fins so it's now sitting on my work bench waiting for me to come up with another idea for it's use. :06:

 

[grouchyturtle]

I'm on my second pair of jets and third set of springs, between switching to jets from my old fins starting to dive dry (and needing bigger jets), getting new booties, then switching to turbosoles on my drysuit.

Everytime I change anything my fins don't fit anymore. I'll probably stick with the booties I have now and the Turbo Soles, but just in case I switch anything...that and wet and dry I need different size springs now anyway.

I would have just reused the Halcyon block I have, but I really like the design with the multiple hole so you can adjust the length. With that design once they're done, they should last forever.

 

[Padipro]

grunzster I know exactly what you mean. I bought a pair of large jets and then got my dry suit and boots, the jets didn't even come close to fitting. I sold those and bought a set of XXL jets with spring straps already installed now they work great with the boots. I still dive wet in the summer time so I had to install a set of spring straps on my regular fins so I can do things right even when wet.